Starting Your Day....Late?

When does your day actually start? Does it start in the morning with the alarm clock or the children? For me, it ideally starts at night. I say ideally because nobody's life is perfectly organized - not even mine. Secondly, saying it starts at night is probably striking you as being a bit odd. But hear me out. Keep an open mind and give it some thought.

In Genesis, we read, in verse 5, that "God called light day, and darkness He called night. Evening came and morning came: the first day." And in verse 15 of Proverbs 31, we read that "She rises also while it is yet night..." My own personal interpretation of this is that God's day starts at sundown. And it is still dark when the woman we are trying to emulate rises. Hmmm. So, if your day starts at sundown, instead of with the rising of the sun, what would you do differently?

When I first came to this conclusion, I made a lot of changes. And they have worked, for the most part, for me. Here are some of the things I do when I "start" my day:

• Review and/or discuss my husband's workload and projects for the next day. Is he going to be gone part of the day; the whole day; or not at all? Believe it or not, this can make a huge difference on how I plan my day!
• Make up my "to-do" list for the next day, keeping in consideration the assigned projects and my husband's schedule.
• Review my meal plans and decide what meals I am going to make for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next day. Is there any advance preparations I can do, such as make the muffin mix ahead of time? Get any ingredients from the freezer?
• Give the house a quick once-over. Do I need to run the vacuum? Do a quick spot mop of a spill? Have any clothes to put away? In other words, when I wake up in the morning, is the house going to be presentable, making my day run smoother, or is it such a mess I know I won't get anything done except cleaning?
• Take my shower and relax. Nothing soothes away the prior day's stress and helps me to relax and prepare for the "new" day like a really hot shower or a long soak in a luxurious bubble bath. Plus it gives my hair plenty of time to dry before I have to style it.
• Meditate on God's Word. I like to do this right before I go to sleep. It gives me something to ponder once the lights are out, especially if falling asleep is evading me. Since my prayer box is with me, if I should need to make a note for myself, I have everything right there and don't need to even get out of bed.

Review how you are "starting" your day and jot down some things that you can do the night before so that the "rest of the day" goes more smoothly.

Blessings be upon you.